My brother died some time during the week of July 18. His health had not been great for a while because he had MS. But it was all complicated by the fact that he had been in a number of very bad accidents over the past decade that left him with assorted physical limitations. One year he broke his shoulder, the next year he broke his hip. About a year and a half later he broke his neck in a bad car accident. Still, he worked out every day on a tread mill in his office and his death was unexpected. I kind of thought he’d eventually tell me that he had simply willed his health problems into a minor inconvenience. He was 61. Read more

Okay, I know it is The Superbowl next Sunday. And I know this, even though I don’t watch any sports. There. I said it. None. Nothing. And I am fortunate enough to now live with a man who shares my lack of interest. (In fact, just last night he said to me “Who is playing this year? Is it the Spiders versus The Coconuts?”) Read more

So there is a piece in the new RollingStone about year one of the Letterman show. (If you use the link, check under the area labeled ‘features’ And if the link says something about how you need to be a subscriber, just google Rollingstone,Current issue. And it will appear. Then look for features.). As a lot of you may know, this is not a piece of my past that I revisit much. For a lot of reasons, among them the fact that whatever the opposite of nostalgic is, I am that. But when the writer of the piece, David Browne, contacted me, I decided I’d play along. Because…you know… why not? And in the course of playing along, the art director asked me if I had any photos. As it turned out, I did. I made jpegs out of a bunch of them but for whatever reason, they never made it in to the magazine. Which brings us to this blog post. Since I went to the trouble of making the damn jpegs , I thought maybe fans of the early Letterman show might enjoy seeing them. Lets get ME over with first. Here I am when the show first launched. The important writer shirt was a sarcastic souvenir from my days of being a struggling writer at large, newly moved to Hollywood. Which, at that point, was just a few weeks before this. I thought it was a very funny thing to have on a shirt. That, in a nutshell, was me then.Read more

When it comes to love, seems to me that no creature on the face of the earth is as generally clueless about what to do as the human being. Witness this clip of two albatrosses in love. (spoiler alert: Albatross porn. Parental guidance advised.) Both members of the lovely couple were clearly born fully loaded with detailed instructional software that explained to them how they should perform this incredibly appealing highly effective mating ritual . I personally find it so moving and convincing that I would join their species happily if only it were an option. Read more

There is a new show at the Morgan Library and Museum, in NYC, that appears to be retrospective of the human being and his centuries old need to present himself and his life through the keeping of diaries. From the review I read in the N.Y. Times, it looks like an exhibit I would love. The show appears to contain everything from a fifteenth century ” first printed edition of St. Augustine’s ‘Confessions,’ and that book’s 18th-century secular heir, Rousseau’s “Confessions” to the hand written musings of assorted luminaries such as Sir Walter Scott, Emily Bronte, and Nathaniel Hawthorne and his wife (see below). There are also contributions from that old diary perennial Anais Nin as well as musings from Bob Dylan, Tennessee Williams and a policeman at the site of the World Trade Center during 9/11. All appear to share the amazing details of being alive in their particular moment. Somehow everyone seems to know instinctively how to create the kind of entry that deserves to be placed upon the sands of time and burned in to the pages of history. Read more

UPDATE: I got my ten names. That was fast. Oh well. You missed out. Unless we already had an exchange and you gave me your address. But may I encourage you to please buy a copy of my book in paperback? Because…uh…you need something funny to read and I have to earn a living. Read more

Well, its Valentines Day, almost. I’ve actually had a few nice ones in a row since I am happily co-habitating with someone I genuinely like. But as usual for me this time of year, I start thinking about the lack of reasonable romantic role models in the world at large. My family didn’t provide one. And come on… don’t we all want to see a functioning hopeful model? Read more

A week or so ago I posted an idea I had of making myself a corporate montage. At that point I was still thinking of trying to compete with GE or AT&T or Standard Oil, image-wise. But now I have decided to try out a more honest version. Quite frankly, I think I may be breaking new ground as I doubt Exxon or Merrill Lynch have even considered going in this direction. Here is what my corporate montage really should be. Read more

I made this little film when I first learned how to edit. I still kind of like it. Especially the original sound track by Mr. Prieboy. So put your hands together and welcome to our stage Puppyboy in “I’m Forever Chasing Bottles.” Read more